Sacrifice
by WhispersFromMyDreams
Summary: When a certain Original comes to town, just-graduated Avery Eastridge sacrifices her human life to be what her best friend, Harper Paisley, is. A vampire. But when things go wrong, what can Avery do to make things right?


I don't see why people are afraid of vampires. Some of them aren't mean, aren't evil and blood-craved like how everybody thinks they are. Some of them actually have selfcontrol. If my parents herad me say that, they'd think I was one. But I don't burn when I'm out in the sun. And I don't drink blood. I'm completely human. But, why am I so attached to vampires, you might ask. It's because my best friend's a vampire. She's been one since 1760, her sixteenth birthday. She had a vampire boyfriend, said that he loved her so much, he didn't want to lose her. That he wanted her to be with him for all eternity. So he turned her. Wasn't long until people found out he was a Blood Drinker, as my father calls them, and he died with a wooden stake in his heart. For two-hundred and fifty something years, Harper - my best friend - has been on-edge, afraid that the vampire hunters would come after her and drive a stake through her chest. A couple years ago, she met me, and our friendship spiraled from there. I found out about her being a vampire not long ago, about a few months after my high school graduation. Yep, I'm nineteen and out of school.

"Vampires," Mona started. "They're lethal, no doubt about it."

I slipped on my bluejean shorts and pulled a sweatshirt over me. "I've noticed."

"You know, there's a bunch more out there. You can't trust any other Blood Drinker, just me."

"You're the only one I know, Harper."

"Good. Let's keep it that way, okay?"

I looked at her, wanting to ask her a question. "This sounds like a warning."

Harper sighed and slumped on my bed, crossing her arms. "They're coming, Avery. A bunch of them."

My hands gave out on the book I was holding and dropped it on accident. I looked at her. "Wait . . . what did you say?"

"The Blood Drinkers are coming to Mystic Falls. They're going for richer hunting grounds. And this is where they're coming."

I look at her again. "They're going to come out at night, right?"

"Unless they have something charmed that makes them walk out in the sun, then no. But you can't go out by yourself at night anymore. Alright? I'm not trying to be motherly, I'm just trying to protect my best friend."

I've never seen another vampire, nevermind a 'bunch of them', as Harper described. "Thanks."

"If you see new faces around, they could be vamps, so keep a steady eye out."

"I will."

Harper's phone rang and she answered it. "Hello?" A voice said something to her sternly, and she dug for something in her pocket. Harper said, "On my way," and hung up the phone. She turned to me and held out what she was looking for in her pocket. "This locket has vervain in it. It'll protect you from a vampire that'll try to compel you. And - -" she reached into her purse, pulled out a perfume bottle. " - - this perfume has vervain it it, too. Spray this on you twice a day. When you wake up and when you go to sleep. I've gotten used to vervain since I drink it, so it won't harm me."

I looked at her. "It's that bad?"

Harper tucked a chunk of my pitch-black hair behind my ear, giving me a worried look. "I hope not, Avery."

All I do is give a nod and she says goodbye to me, tells me that she'll call me when she gets home. Says that she has to take care of something. I hope that doesn't include a stake and a vampire's chest. Ugh, no.

"Don't come out of your house tonight," Harper warned. "Unless I'm with you."

"Alright, _mom,_" I whined, giving a small laugh.

"I'm serious."

"I know, I know. Sorry. I won't go outside."

"Good." And with that, Harper went out of my room, down the stairs, and out of my house. I saw her get into her black Mustang, and roar away. The sky was pitch black and people were walking down the streets. SOme were walking their dogs, others were walking in groups, talking about something. I couldn't recognize their faces, and I shut my blinds, walking to my bed. Thanks, Harper. Thanks for making me paranoid. I was even afraid to go into my bathroom. Because of the dark. I took a long shower and made my way out to my bedroom window again. I looked out, saw the stars and the clear night sky. I looked down again. Thought of those people being vampires and watching me from where they were. Longing to drink human blood. But then I realized, I've loved the stars too fondly to be afraid of the night.

**Two days later **

I was at Harper's house, listening to Skrillex and dancing shamelessly. Harper and I lost our soberness an hour ago, and now we were dancing in our bras and undies. When we were tired, we slumped onto the floor and took a breather, chugging down the beer that she brought over. Not the healthiest way to spend a Saturday night, but - like how Drake said it - YOLO, right? A few hours later, I regained my soberness, given that I only drank three beers, and it takes an hour for each beer to leave your system. That's what my health ed teacher told us, so I'm not sure.

When I was sober enough, I put my clothes back on and found Harper drinking blood from a blood bag. She looked at me, stopped drinking, sighed in relief, and offered me some. I shook my head. "N-no, I'm fine," I said. Ew, just ew. A few minutes later, Harper put her clothes on and I noticed her fangs were still out.

"Harper," I said. "Your - - _teeth_."

She touched her fangs with her tongue and they went back to being normal canine teeth. "Better?"

"Yep."

There was screaming coming from outside. Harper looked at me, gave me a look that read _stay inside._ And when I blinked, she was gone. Uh, there's no way I was going to miss this. I snuck outside and found that the screaming was from the woods. I saw Harper go in there and I ran, trying to catch up. I was surprised that her inhumanly hearing didn't hear me run after her. Once I was inside the woods, I counted on my hearing to lead the way. I was wearing the perfume and the necklace Harper gave me, and I was sure a bit of alcohol was still in my blood, so right now, I felt like Superman taking on the world.

I heard Harper scream and that's when I took off running faster than I thought I could. I stopped when I saw Harper being manhandled by a man with very short curly blonde hair and dark, smoldering eyes. He had harper in a headlock and by the looks of this situation, he was at the least ten times stronger than Harper was. That meant that he was older than Harper. A lot older.

"Avery!" Harper choked out. "What - - the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"I heard you screaming," I answered, looking at Harper's attacker.

"She's human," the man said in a seductingly hot British accent. "How intriguing."

I backed away and Harper said, "Go home, Avery. I'll take care of this."

The man let go of Harper and in a blink of an eye, his arm was horribly tight around my neck. Harper took long breaths and hissed. "Let go of her!"

I struggled to get out of his grip. I couldn't even get him to budge. So, I arched my leg behind me and kicked him right in his genitals. He let out a grunt with his mouth closed and tightened his grip on me. I felt his surprisingly warm skin against my neck and the hairs on his arm pricked my neck.

"That wasn't smart, love," the man grunted, and forcefully tilted my head to the side. "Let's see how this'll feel." I screamed and pushed all of my body weight down towards the ground, making me slip from his arms and land flat on my rear end. I crawled my way to safety and Harper lifted me to my feet. The man with dark eyes waved a finger side-to-side at me.

"Just leave her alone," Harper told the man in a feared tone. I've never heard her like that before. The Harper I know is always brave, ready to take on a thousand, raging bulls. But right here, this one Blood Drinker, had her quivering in fear. "She didn't do anything."

He grinned, not showing his teeth. Wow, he was goodlooking. "It won't be fun if I get rid of you now, will it?" I looked at the man that had his eyes on me. It felt like he was raping me with his eyes. I felt naked, even though I was well clothed. "Just this once," the man started. "Until next time, my lovelies." And just like that, he disappeared. I looked at Harper, who turned around to look at me, but then looked behind me. There laid a woman who's neck was bleeding. She was lifeless and dead. I looked at Harper and we ran back to her house.

When we were inside, she looked around, shut every blind and locked us in her bedroom. "You're staying the night here," Harper said.

"I don't have any clothes," I protested, trying to sound like a I cared. What I really wanted to know was _who _that Blood Drinker was.

"You'll borrow mine," she said.

I nodded and opened my mouth to speak. "Who was that?" I asked.

"You already know."

"I know he's a vampire. Pretty obvious. But I noticed that he's stronger than you. And you told me that vampires that are stronger than other mean that they're older. And . . . I'm sure he's a lot older than you. You couldn't even get him to move."

"Yeah, he's older." Harper went behind me and pretended to clean the countertop of her dresser drawer, even though it was spotless.

"Tell me," I said again. "He scared you, Harper. And that's not the Harper I know. You would've drove one of those trees through his heart."

"He's not a regular vampire, Avery."

"_Who_. Is. He?"

Harper sighed, turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "Remember what I told you about the strongest vampires alive? The Originals?"

I put two and two together. "Oh, shit, Harper."

"That man that tried to drink your blood . . . he's an Original. His name's Klaus Mikelson."


End file.
